Sliding door with retractable swinging leaf

ABSTRACT

A door for cabinets, cupboards and the like in which at least one sliding door element provided with a mirrored surface carries at least two sliding and swinging side leafs or door elements also provided with mirrored surfaces by means of beams slidably mounted on guides fixed to the rear portion of the door element at different heights so that the side leaves may slide from a fully extended position to a retracted position in which the side leaves are fully concealed behind the front portion of the door element while lying in one and the same plane whereby the thickness of the door element is maintained at a minimum and the extended position of the side leaves at a maximum.

United States Patent 1,078,502 11/1913 Hermann 2,489,506 11/1949 SeutinSLIDING DOOR WlTl-l RETRACTABLE SWINGING LEAF 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 49/70,

350/305, 49/409 Int. Cl E06b 7/00 Field of Search 49/207,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,807,192 9/1957 VonBerg 350/3053,439,452 4/1969 Kain....,...,.. 49/143 FOREIGN PATENTS 538,976 6/1922France 350/306 410,070 2/1925 Germany 350/299 Primary Examiner-Dennis L.Taylor Att0rney-Ho1man & Stern ABSTRACT: A door for cabinets, cupboardsand the like in which at least one sliding door element provided with amirrored surface carries at least two sliding and swinging side leafs ordoor elements also provided with mirrored surfaces by means of beamsslidably mounted on guides fixed to the rear portion of the door elementat different heights so that the side leaves may slide from a fullyextended position to a retracted position in which the side leaves arefully concealed behind the front portion of the door element while lyingin one and the same plane whereby the thickness of the door element ismaintained at a minimum and the extended position of the side leaves ata maximum.

SLIDING DOOR WITH RETRACTABLE SWINGING LEAF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to doors and more particularly to doors for usewith wardrobes, cupboards, and cabinets, such as bathroom cabinets andthe like which such doors are provided with one or more slidingelements, which may carry mirrors the front or on the back thereof, aswell as to doors having one or more pivotally mounted or hinged, andpreferably mirrored, swinging side leafs.

Various types of such doors are already known, and are provided witheither sliding or swinging primary elements or leafs, with secondaryswinging leafs being pivotally mounted, or hinged, at one or both sidesof such primary door elements or leafs, either separately therefrom on alateral post or standard of the door frame, or on the primary element orleaf per se, and having mirrors, either on the back face, or the frontface, or both. In any case on the known doors, the lateral leafs lie, inthe inoperative or folded position, in front of the main, or central,element or leaf, so that the lateral leafs detract from the neatappearance ofthe front of the cupboard or cabinet.

The object of the invention is, accordingly, to provide a side-leafeddoor for wardrobes, cupboards, cabinets and the like, in which theswinging side leafs may be positioned, for use, at a desired angle withrespect to the main leaf or element, and in their inoperative positionthe main leaf or element.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a door forclosing cabinets or the like comprising at least one primary slidingdoor element adapted to selectively close at least one portion of thecabinet and having a mirror on its front face, at least two secondarysliding and swinging elements beingselectively arrangeable into aplurality of horizontal positions within and outside of at a desiredangle with respect to the primary door element and each sliding andswinging element having mirrors on their front and rear faces, eachsliding and swinging element including a frame defined by upper andlower horizontal beams slidably movable between a position fullyconcealed behind the primary sliding door element and another positionlocated laterally and exteriorally of the primary sliding door element,and one terminal upright connecting the upper and lower horizontal beamspivotally supporting a swinging side leaf thereon, a set of upper andlower guides for said upper and lower horizontal beams carried by saidprimary sliding door element behind the front surface thereof andextending throughout the width of the primary sliding door element,whereby all of said guides lie with their center planes in one and thesame vertical plane parallel to the sliding plane of the primary slidingdoor element and said upper guides for said upper beams being superposedrelative to each other and to said lower guides for said lower beams andsaid lower guides for said lower beams being superposed with respect toone another.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become morereadily apparent to persons skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description and annexed drawings and in which drawings:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary perspectiveview of a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which a swingingleaf of a primary sliding door is shown in a halfoutwardly swungposition on a fully extended supporting frame; and

FIG. 2 is a front view of an embodiment of the invention showing a doorwith two swinging and retractable side-leafs in the fully extendedposition and illustrating the supporting and sliding means thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A sliding door element 1 isprovided with a mirror on its front face and covers an opening in a walldefined by a lintel 2,

a sill 3 and two standards 20, 20, forming an area which may be made ofany desired material as, e.g., glass, ceramics, wood, plastic, etc. andwhich may be of any dimensions. Preferably the length of the lintel andsill is desired at least 1% times the width of the front mirror of thedoor element, and desirably twice the width thereof better still. Thelintel and sill are preferably provided with a groove 4 in which ridesupporting rolls 5, for the lintel 2, or tongues, rods, or hooks and thelike 5', for the sill. Lateral, swinging, retractable leafs 6, 6 arecarried by vertical shafts 7, 7' pivotally supported, at their upper andlower ends, by two beams 8,8 and 9, 9 respectively. It will be notedthat these beams are horizontal and parallel, and are formed preferablyof rectangular bars or tubesv However, the beams may be of any desiredshape and material. The beams are affixed at their ends by uprights 10,10 formed preferably of T-shaped structural members, whose stems entercorresponding terminal grooves in beams 8, 8 and 9,9 and are fixedtherein by any suitable means, such as glue, soldering, weld, rivets,etc., and whose flanges may abut, in the retracted position of leaves6,6 and beams 8, 8' and 9, 9', against standard 20, 20', forming aclosure for its lateral opening.

It will be seen that all of the components of the beams 8, 8 and 9, 9are each staggered in height so that such beams may lie in one and thesame plane parallel to and behind the mirror on the sliding doorelement 1. In FIG. 2 it will be noted that the beam 8 lies above thebeam 8' and the beam 9 above the beam 9' although such relationshipcould be reversed and the mirrored surfaces of the leafs 6, 6' willnevertheless be at the same height since such leaves are hinged to theirsupporting member in slightly eccentric positions.

Parallel beams 8, 8' and 9, 9 respectively are slidable inside of twohorizontal guides Ill, 11 and I2, 12' respectively provided in theslidable element 1 or on the same, and which may be either hooks,brackets, grooves, tubes, or holes, either applied on the rear face of,or bored through the body of door element 1, beneath the surface or theoverlying mirror thereof. The guides ll, 11' and 12, 12 may have across-sectional configuration similar to that of the beams 8, 8' and 9,9' per se such as rectangular, for rectangular beams, circular forcircular beams, etc. The guides are arranged in pairs and it can be seenin FIG. 2 that the guide 11 overlies the guide 11 and the guide 12 theguide 12 so that such guides lie in one and the same central planeparallel to the plane of movement of the door element 1 behind the doorelement. The lateral side faces of door element 1 may be lined withmetal strips 21, 21' provided with a slot having a length equal at leastto the distance between the outward faces of beams 8 and/or 8 and 9respectively and a width not less than the overall thickness of suchbeams and the retractable leaf 6, 6' when lying in the same plane as thebeams, including its pivotal shaft 7, 7. The slots are covered, in theretracted position of swinging leaf 6, 6', by the flange of thestructural T" forming the upright l0, l0.

The lateral, swinging leafs 6, 6' support a mirror on the back facethereof, not visible on the drawings, so that, when the leafs are in thefully outwardly swung position, the mirrors face a person standingbefore the main door element 1. However, the side leafs 6, 6 also may beprovided with a second (or an only) mirror, on their front face, visibleon the drawings, so as to present, together with the central mirror 1and in the position shown in FIG. 2, a plane, but enlarged mirrorsurface. They may even be swung towards the rear, in the oppositedirection illustrated in FIG. I, when sufficient space therefor isprovided between the frames 8, 9, l0 and 8', 9', l0 and the wall. Whenthe side leafs 6, 6 are swung outwardly, frame 8, 9, 10 or frame 8, 9,10' may be slid more or less toward the interior of the door element 1so as to position the side leafs more or less near the door element 1,according to the need and the desire of the user.

In order to place the side leafs into the retracted position, it issufficient to draw such side leaves apart, until their free lateral endclears the side end of door element 1, then swing the leafs inwardlyuntil inside of the outline of frame 8, 9 or 8 9' and finally push thesuch leafs on frame into the lateral opening of element 1'. until theflange 10 or 10' ofthe terminal upright abuts against the lateral end ofdoor element 1. Thus the lateralleafs 6,6 remain concealed behind or inthe interior of door element 1.

The frame and mechanism of the door according to the invention may bemade of any suitable material, as wood, plastic, iron, steel, aluminum,brass, bronze, or any other alloy and material, and the actual detailsthereof may be varied wide limits, since the essence of the inventiononly lies in the provision of retractable swinging side leafs for a doorpreferably covered with mirrors, and concealing all parts of themechanism of the door.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown andparticularly described and illustrated above, it is to be understoodthat this is meant only as an example, and the details for carrying theinvention into practice may be varied over wide limits, and manyvariations, substitutions, omissions, additions and changes may be madeby those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of theinvention, with this letters patent being intended to cover all possibleembodiments, uses, modifications and adaptations falling fairly withinthe scope of the invention and the limits of the appended claims.

To this effect it should be clear that, while mirrored sliding orswinging doors with swinging side leafs remaining unconcealed in anypossible position are already known, the present invention does notapply to such doors broadly, but it only claims:

lclaim:

1. A doorfor closing cabinets or the like, comprising at least oneprimary sliding door element adapted to selectively close at least oneportion of the cabinet, a mirror on the frontface of the door element,at least two secondary sliding and swinging elements arrangeable into aplurality of horizontal positions within and exterior of and at adesired angle relative to the primary sliding door element, and mirrorsselectively fitted on the front and rear faces of the secondary slidingand swinging elements, each secondary sliding and swinging elementincluding a three sided frame defined by upper and lower horizontalbeams and a terminal upright extending between said beams, and aswinging side leaf pivotally mounted between said horizontal beams, witheach frame being movable to a position fully concealed behind theprimary sliding door element and another position projecting laterallyexteriorly of the primary sliding door element, a set of upper and lowerguides for each of said upper and lower beams supported by the primarysliding door element behind the front face thereof, said guidesextending the full width of the primary sliding door element, and lyingwith their center planes in one and the same vertical plane parallel tothe sliding plane of the primary sliding door element, the upper guidesfor each upper beam being superposed relative to each other and thelower guides for each lower beam being superposed relative to eachother.

2. The door as claimed in claim I in which each of said beams is ofrectangular cross section and each of said guides is a hollow sheath ofa corresponding rectangular cross section for slidably receiving a beamwith a small clearance.

3. The door as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said beams is ofcircular cross section and each of said guides is a tube with acorrespondingly slightly greater inside diameter.

4. The door as claimed in claim 1 in which all of said swinging sideleafs are at the same height relative to one another, and are pivotallymounted on the corresponding frame at a different relative height so asto compensate for the vertical distance between the correspondinghorizontal beams of their frames.

1. A door for closing cabinets or the like, comprising at least oneprimary sliding door element adapted to selectively close at least oneportion of the cabinet, a mirror on the front face of the door element,at least two secondary sliding and swinging elements arrangeable into aplurality of horizontal positions within and exterior of and at adesired angle relative to the primary sliding door element, and mirrorsselectively fitted on the front and rear faces of the secondary slidingand swinging elements, each secondary sliding and swinging elementincluding a three sided frame defined by upper and lower horizontalbeams and a terminal uprigHt extending between said beams, and aswinging side leaf pivotally mounted between said horizontal beams, witheach frame being movable to a position fully concealed behind theprimary sliding door element and another position projecting laterallyexteriorly of the primary sliding door element, a set of upper and lowerguides for each of said upper and lower beams supported by the primarysliding door element behind the front face thereof, said guidesextending the full width of the primary sliding door element, and lyingwith their center planes in one and the same vertical plane parallel tothe sliding plane of the primary sliding door element, the upper guidesfor each upper beam being superposed relative to each other and thelower guides for each lower beam being superposed relative to eachother.
 2. The door as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said beams isof rectangular cross section and each of said guides is a hollow sheathof a corresponding rectangular cross section for slidably receiving abeam with a small clearance.
 3. The door as claimed in claim 1 in whicheach of said beams is of circular cross section and each of said guidesis a tube with a correspondingly slightly greater inside diameter. 4.The door as claimed in claim 1 in which all of said swinging side leafsare at the same height relative to one another, and are pivotallymounted on the corresponding frame at a different relative height so asto compensate for the vertical distance between the correspondinghorizontal beams of their frames.